Tenant's Secret Love

Chapter 137: The Castle in the Sky is weeping

When I really wanted to talk to Renee about Harlan and Mark's job-hopping, I realized that it was not easy to bring it up, and Renee kept waiting patiently.

After a while, I finally said to Renee, "I have a friend named Harlan who works at Poly Department Store. You must remember him, right?"

"Well, go on," Renee said in a tone that was light but had its own authority. This was the way she was when she was working.

After another period of silence, I said, "He and my old boss Mark are having some trouble at Poly Department Store and are now interested in...jumping ship to your Jumei. Let me ask what you think."

Renee didn't immediately respond, but asked cautiously, "What kind of trouble?"

"It's just trouble after a failed power struggle..."

Renee nodded without looking too surprised. After all, in the workplace, power struggles are inevitable. Some people profit from them, while others end up in a bad way. Take Mark for example. If no one gives him a way out, he may well be disheartened and quit the workplace forever because of his age. And Harlan will most likely end up leaving his hometown.

This also shows that the workplace is cruel, or to put it more broadly, life is even crueler. We are all born into a complex, competitive world, greedily feeding off the blood of others to nourish our own ugly desires.

"Do you want them to go to Jumei?" Renee asked me after a long while.

"Of course I do, and I think it would be a mutually beneficial move for both parties."

Renee smiled and said, "I've looked into Mark's resume, and he has a lot of seniority in the industry. Over the years, he has made many contributions to Poly Department Store. I'm curious about what kind of power struggle made the senior management of Poly Department Store willing to lose such an outstanding middle manager?"

Renee's questioning made me feel her temperament of being in a high position even more. Her thinking and logic were really subtle and tight!

After a short silence, I finally replied, "Do you have any concerns?"

"I wouldn't say concerns, I just want to get to the bottom of things. If they take up positions at Jumei, it will affect the middle and senior management personnel changes at Jumei. It's only right to be cautious, isn't it?"

I nodded. Renee's words proved that she was willing to accept Mark and Harlan into Jumei, so I told Renee everything that had happened to Mark at Poly Department Store.

Renee fell silent after listening, as if pondering how to handle the matter. After a long while, she said to me, "Tell you what, you arrange a time for me to have a face-to-face meeting with them."

"Okay..." I immediately agreed, and my heart also let out a sigh of relief. With Renee's position in Jumei, her willingness to have a face-to-face meeting with Mark and Harlan, the possibility of this matter being settled was also very high.

"Is there anything else that's serious?" Renee asked me again.

I didn't understand the meaning of Renee's question, and after thinking about it, I replied, "No, there's only one serious matter."

Renee then picked up her handbag and said, "I'm going to CC's then."

"It's so late! Are you planning to stay at CC's tonight?"

"Well," Renee answered expressionlessly, as if she still cared about my earlier question about why she wasn't going to CC's place to talk about Abner's confession to her.

"CC lives in a bachelor apartment, with just a small wooden bed. It's a bit crowded for you to stay there, isn't it?"

"Really?"

"Of course. I've slept on her bed many times. It's really small, and two people sleeping on it would definitely be uncomfortable!"

"You slept on CC's bed many times?"

I suddenly realized that what I had just said was inappropriate, and hurriedly explained, "That was after drinking and losing my mind. CC is a good girl and definitely had to take me in, but she slept on the sofa in the living room and let me sleep in the bed."

"Your life is really messy!"

I frowned and said, "This has nothing to do with CC, so don't talk nonsense..."

"What I mean by messy is your drinking and losing your mind. Where are you thinking?"

Looking at Renee's half-smiling expression, my thoughts were once again drawn back to those unbearable memories. It was as if it was the period just after I broke up with Brittany, when I drank myself senseless at CC's restaurant almost every day. That's why CC took me in so many times. So Renee was right. Isn't it chaotic enough for a person to switch between being sober and drunk every day?

I fell silent, and Renee didn't pursue the matter. She picked up her handbag, got up from the sofa, and walked towards the door.

Renee just left. It was for the best. At least I could smoke a cigarette without restraint again!

The deep night rendered the smoke exhaled from my mouth so thick. I couldn't break through the thick fog for a while, so I fell into a daze. The whole person was frivolous, so I saw the outline of that city again in a hazy way. It was still so crystal clear and beautiful as ever.

But she suddenly burst into tears, threw away her original appearance, and then crazily tore me apart. In the pain of the tearing, I seemed to see again those happy memories in silence.

...

After washing up, I lay on the bed, not wanting to think about anything, just repeating the two insignificant little things of smoking and losing concentration, until the WeChat notification sounded.

I picked it up and read it: it was from CC: "Lucas, something big has happened, today Abner and Renee confessed their love?"

The content of the message made me realize that Renee had really gone to CC's place, but CC was just being dramatic. She was just passing on second-hand information, and I already knew about it. So I calmly replied to CC: "I know... Renee is at your place right now, isn't she?"

CC sent a photo of Renee, looking beautiful in her natural state, but already asleep. I couldn't help but sigh: this is a goddess. Even after being confessed to, she can still sleep soundly, without knowing that someone is losing sleep over her at this very moment.

I immediately messaged CC back, "You're in a great position! Hurry up and take some more pictures and send them over for me to look at."

CC sent back a sweaty face emoji, 'Abner has already confessed his love, how can you still be so calm?"

"Why can't I be calm? This isn't the animal world, just because one male shows his love to a female doesn't mean the other male has to go and bite him!"

CC sent back a laughing face emoji, 'Lucas, can you please stop being so funny..."

I didn't know how to reply to this message, so I threw my phone aside, lit another cigarette, and imagined what it would be like if Renee really became Abner's girlfriend one day. I couldn't help but feel suffocated!

But as I just told CC, I am, after all, a human being. Since I am human, I definitely cannot be as simple and straightforward as animals. At the moment, I have the concerns of many people, and these concerns make me feel powerless.

Even if I really do win Renee over, will she one day grow to hate me like Brittany did?

I dare not think any further, for I fear I will once again see that city of the sky that has lost its crystal clarity and is weeping!